Private Political Discussion Forum?

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by bvibert

If you don't want people finding this site because of the political discussions then you probably don't want them to find this place based on the misc-discussions in general

A misc discussion in and of itself isn't usually bad. Political discussions tend to pull in bad apples who aret rying to incite rather than contribute.

-Stephen

[Charlie Schuessler]

Originally Posted by BeanoNYC

...I can't help but think that this will end up being an opportunity for some heavy flames. At least if it is out in the public, there is some sort of self monitoring going on...

I agree.

[Greg]

Originally Posted by ctenidae

That's a good idea, bvibert- is it possible to make a thread un-indexed?

Excellent points. Making the Misc forum private would achieve the same thing in terms of the search engine results. Actually, the most common search phrases that refer folks to these forums are from threads in Miscellaneous. For example, so far in July, here are the top twelve search phrases:

nh ezpass
nh ez pass
ez pass nh
tour de france faq
nh tolls
utah forest fires
randy jackson journey
which state has the longest coastline
dicks picks 35
maura murray
discovery bike team
deadliest catch

Last month:

randy jackson journey
randy jackson american idol
maura murray
lowering the drinking age
deadliest catch
ez pass nh
nh ezpass
which state has the longest coastline
winter colors
product testers
wives and girlfriends
nh ez pass

I guess you could argue that the fact that we have such a presence on the SE's is a good thing. I'm sure we've gained some new members as a result; some of whom may not be skiers or hikers or even live in the Northeast, however. Making the Miscellaneous forum private would definitely reduce the number of lurkers here. Not sure if that's a good thing or not...? Threads that are currently indexed will remain so until the SE's re-spider the forums. They should then update their index to reflect the post no longer existing (actually I think they will "see" a log in screen).

Back to the topic at hand. Perhaps I should've started a thread to gauge whether all the political discussions were annoying members or not. If so, there would only be two options - (1) ban all political discussions, or (2) the private political forum. I would prefer the latter. As far as moderation, we can institute the same guidelines as the rest of the forums, i.e. the political discussions wouldn't be allowed to get out of hand any more than they are now.

In any event, remember, we can always just try it out. Nothing is set in stone and we could always revert back to the old approach if we all think that's better. phpBB 3 will have nested forums. Imagine including a political forum as a sub-forum to Miscellaneous. This is sort of the same thing - it's just presented within the limitations of phpBB 2.0.x. With all the integration between the forums and the rest of the AZ Web site, it's a version we are going to need to stick with for some time...

This is all great feedback - please continue.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by bvibert

What if you just made the Misc section only viewable for registered members? That would eliminate the search engine, riff-raff thing...

I like this idea, I voted no.

[JimG.]

I voted no; I don't think it's a problem here. And if this is for folks who get offended by it, read no further than the topic line and then stop reading.

If you don't like the channel you're watching on TV, change the channel. The political topics here are relatively few.

It would be ironic if the outcome of the intelligent and occasionally boisterous political conversation here wound up hidden and censored.

[Greg]

Originally Posted by JimG.

I voted no; I don't think it's a problem here. And if this is for folks who get offended by it, read no further than the topic line and then stop reading.

If you don't like the channel you're watching on TV, change the channel. The political topics here are relatively few.

It would be ironic if the outcome of the intelligent and occasionally boisterous political conversation here wound up hidden and censored.

Thanks Jim. Just to clarify - this idea was not in response to any complaints, but more of a preemptive approach. Perhaps it's not necessary.

Your last comment is a good point, but again, censorship is not what we're after here. This is all great feedback. Keep it coming. I'd like to stick with tradition and only implement things once I get feedback from the community.

[JimG.]

Originally Posted by Greg

Thanks Jim. Just to clarify - this idea was not in response to any complaints, but more of a preemptive approach. Perhaps it's not necessary.

Your last comment is a good point, but again, censorship is not what we're after here. This is all great feedback. Keep it coming. I'd like to stick with tradition and only implement things once I get feedback from the community.

The last line in my response sounded a little harsh, didn't mean to say you were instituting censorship.

Maybe I'm weird, but I'm more likely to want to meet up with folks like Stephen or JayTrek who have disagreed with things I've written. Constructive confrontation is good and should lead to effective compromise.

Then again, I understand folks who don't want to read that stuff, and they shouldn't.

[blacknblue]

I voted "no." It would probably be tricky to differentiate b/t Political and Miscellaneous in many cases, as any current events tend to dissolve into political rants. There's a number of current threads in the Misc that go in and out of political territory.
I also agree with whomever said that it is easy enough to avoid the political threads if so desired.
So, I don't really see the need being worth the hassle.

[Greg]

Interesting how the poll is basically split...kinda like in politics... So is it the coservatives or the liberals that voted "no"?

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by JimG.

I voted no; I don't think it's a problem here. And if this is for folks who get offended by it, read no further than the topic line and then stop reading.

Unfortunately that isn't the case. Any topic can turn into a very heated politcal discussion. At this point all Greg can do is ask people to get back on topic or lock the post.

With a poly forum, the political posts can be split out and both the original discussion and the heated poly dicsussion can live on.

-Stephen